


Twelve Years and Counting

by madain_sari



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Bulma is also bad at Feelings, F/M, It works out somehow, Post-Majin Buu Saga, Some Swearing, Trunks kinda ships it but he wishes his parents could get their shit together yanno, Valentine's Day, Vegeta is bad at feelings, they are adults lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22586584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madain_sari/pseuds/madain_sari
Summary: Bulma is suddenly confronted with the question she has given up finding an answer to.  One year after the Buu Saga.
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta
Comments: 7
Kudos: 53





	Twelve Years and Counting

Academic conferences were Bulma's _jam_. She lived for the awed stares, hushed adulations, fresh ideas from around the world and hanging out with fellow scientists without worrying about corporate espionage or sniping. Science faculties also had the best/worst smells, sweat and burnt electronics mixed with sugar. She had fond memories of soldering iron, making something out of nothing, and blue skying concepts, no matter how insane they could be.

Full from the conference dinner and content, she jumped immediately to her bed. Sure her bed at home is comfier but she liked the sense of weightless and timelessness in these uniform looking hotels. 

Her oversized tablet suddenly rang without warning.

"Trunks?"

"Mom!"

"Hi baby!"

She immediately switched to video call."How is everything?"

Trunks was sitting down in the wilderness, with a yellow house in the distance. She could hear Goten's giggle and Son-kun's playful teasing.

"Why are you in Mount Paozu?"

"Dad kicked me out."

"He-what?!"

"He said, and I quote, wanted to prepare a Valentine's day thingie tomorrow or whatever."

Bulma winced."What does that even mean?"

" I don't know!"

"Did you tell him to just do what he does every other year? Chocolate dipped strawberries?"

"I did and he ignored me."

"Trunks, I'm scared."

"You married him!" her son accused.

"Well, not technically --"

"Okay fine, you chose him!" he huffed impatiently.

"In my defence, he could be sweet sometimes and he's really hot!"

"Okay mom, one,ew, please don't ever say that again and two, how did you not see this coming?"

"Oh, baby , you know I don't really expect him to--"

"If you are going to say he doesn't have to prove anything, this is Dad we are talking about."

Bulma winced. Trunks was right.

She sighed, "How did he manage to convince Chi Chi to let you stay there?"

"Apparently he'd been talking to her about this for a week and he sent me after dinner."

"Smart."

"Trunks! Where are you?!"Goten shouted.

"Anyway. I'm gonna get back inside. Just... prepare yourself for tomorrow, Mom."

"I will baby, love you."

"Love you."

Well shit.

He really wanted to do a prepare Valentine's day celebration for her?

Bulma threw her tablet to the bedside table distractedly. Honestly she wasn't so sure about what she and Vegeta was anymore now. They raised Trunks, sure, sometimes they have sex, they engage in friendly conversations and banter, but, are they really a couple? Sure, she had feelings for him, have been for a while, but he's... Vegeta. Granted, he has been a lot better lately, he had insisted on giving her chocolate covered strawberry on Valentine's day* every year since Trunks' fifth birthday and he did swear he would do better after the Buu fiasco...but

(* a fact that endlessly confused her. Where did he get the strawberries first of all)

Does that mean that he has feelings for her?

This was the guy who didn't rescue her when her plane crashed during that whole deal with Cell, prioritise training over everything in life, constantly moaning about Son-kun like a jilted lover. Honestly she was surprised that he didn't camp himself in Mount Paozu like Piccolo.

Okay, she felt him die when he sacrificed himself a year ago, but that could happen to anyone. According to Son-kun he did it for them but...

An image of Vegeta popped in her mind. He was scowling as usual, his arm folded and standing off to the side like he was ready to just jump off.

Bulma sighed. Once upon a time she had ran off to search for dragon balls to wish for her own prince charming and live happily ever after. That dream had slowly turned into dust and Yamcha dying seem like the final nail in the coffin. Not that it was entirely Yamcha's fault, she had had the tendency to be very difficult since she was young. Then when she gave up, the universe decided to play a joke on her and send her a prince. A prince who had lost everything, owned nothing and had both severe trauma and a questionable moral compass. Hardly someone she had in mind.

She still remembered the first week Vegeta was in Capsule Corps. He had been extremely suspicious. The breakfast that her mom had made had always been left untouched until she started eating them (she hated wasting food), at which point he would get really territorial over them.

Whoa.

Had it really been nine...no ten years since then?

No.

It had been twelve years since then. Barring the one year he left to train in space, he has never really left earth at all.

Bulma's eyes widened and suddenly she felt her balance shift a little.

She need...she needed a smoke. Bulma threw her coat on and quickly took her emergency cigarettes. She had promised Vegeta that she'd quit but this seemed appropriate. Just to calm down. One stick, she promised internally.

* * *

Bulma only woke up thanks to the loud and annoying alarm clock she had set up. Ugh. Right. The conference. She only slept for 3 hours and it showed. She could barely concentrate on her own employee's post doc presentation (she will apologize to Blouse later), spaced out often and try as she might she could feel herself descending into sleep. During the first break of the day she pumped so much coffee into her paper cup. Except, the coffee just made her more of an anxious mess and her body still flashed her brain sleep signals. Three hours and two minutes later she still wasn't doing any better.

Bulma glared blearily at the lunch buffet. She always loved East City University's conference buffet but she could barely make out what they were serving today. She picked the safest option, what looked like rice and stir fried vegetables.

"Hey Bulma,"one of the panelists greeted her.He motioned her to sit with him.

"Mat!"

"Been a long time right?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"You don't look so good today, are you coming down with a cold?", asked a blonde scientist next to Mat.

"Oh this?" Bulma said, pointing at her face. "Nah, I'm just...I can't sleep."

"Oh, where's your uh...?" asked the man she called Mat, making arm swinging gestures."Tall hair."

"Vegeta," she supplied.

"Baby Daddy? Boyfriend? Friends with Benefits?"

"Something like that." Like she knows how to define them right now anyway. Stick to the safe stuff, Bulma. "He's at home, making sure our son does his midterm homework."

"Holy shit are you still with that buff dude?"

"Kilt!", she said waving to a red headed woman.

"Apparently," Bulma said with a chuckle."Said he's preparing something for me later on." The table tittered in delight.

"How long has it been? Eight years?"

"Nine, I think."

"What exactly do you guys talk about? I mean musclemen seems like your type but nine years is a long ass time, it can't all be just sex."

Another interjected, "I remember when you were still with the pitcher of West City Bats, there."

"Yea, every other week you'd break up and make up with him, I think we lost count how many times."

Bulma sarcastically commented, "The good ole days, am I right."

The table erupted in laughter.

"You still haven't answered my question, though."

Bulma twirled a broccoli with her fork. "Oh you know, we raise Trunks together, so lots about our son but lately we've been theorizing about faster than light travels."

"Whoa!"

"He swears by Alcubierre drive theory and--"

"Isn't alcubierre drive still theoretical?"

No it wasn't. They had been succesful at testing small vehicles and were moving to bigger ones. Vegeta had been working closely with her R & D team to combine alloys that could stand the larger vehicle test drive. Folding space is risky business, though, not impossible with Vegeta and her team. But that was all still Top Secret. She smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I guess."

"Still. Didn't think he'd be that type."

Yeah how would you get a buff earthling with that amount of advanced physics and biotech knowledge? For him it was something he was used to and a problem she hasn't solved yet

"Mmm, well, people surprise you sometimes," she commented neutrally. "How's your husband, Mat?"

"Oh you know, same old same old. He's got a promotion at work recently, but you know how it is when you've been together awhile..."

"Things get...domestic, huh,"interjected the other scientist.

"Yeah we can't even be bothered with Valentine's day nowadays."

Domestic...

Well, Bulma thought, domestic isn't all bad. Apart from his single-minded Saiyan thoughts to training, he was becoming more open to doing things around the house. Vegeta seemed amenable to picking Trunks up from school, making sure he does his homework, occasionally doing odd jobs for her R&D lab, and helping Mom when he wasn't training lately. Bulma had to admit it was nice.

But that's not because he has feelings for her right? He wanted to do the right thing he promised, right after the fiasco with Buu so she assumed that was part and parcel of his promise.

"Right Bulma?"

"Hm?"

"Just say you agree with me."

"Hell no, I need to know what you're on about first, Kilt."

They laughed together.

"Uh, Bulma," said an approaching person in glasses. It was one of her R&D team.

"Oh, Blouse, can I read your dissertation later on the way back?"

"That's not what I want to talk about."

Bulma cocked one eyebrow.Blouse gestured that he wanted to talk alone with her. She stood up and followed him near the conference hall exit.

"I wanted to hire one of the panelists for our project,"

"Hey, I'm not stopping you."

"But, I want you to interview them too," he responded. "And you don't look..."Blouse gestured at her overall look.

"Lay off, Blouse," she said snappily.

He chuckled,

"Anyway, why'd you need me to see this candidate? You're qualified to decide yourself."

"You seem to have a knack to with people."

She smiled sardonically. "Do I?"

"Vegeta seemed to think so too."

At that, Bulma didn't know how to react.

"He does?"

"Yeah, told me that he was skeptical about me at first but he said obviously you knew better."

That was...oddly touching.

"He said that huh."

"Nah, he mostly grunted about how I was adequate by human standards, and that you chose well."

"That's more like it."

"Also, hot tip, Professor Sarong had to ditch his panel on reversible quantum collapse today and Dr. Pantaloon is replacing him."

"Pantaloon? Snoozy Pants Pantaloon?"

"The very same," Blouse's face grimaced.

"You know what, you're right Blouse. I'm gonna ditch the rest of today and just nap."

Kami knows she needs the energy for whatever shenanigans Vegeta would be up to today.

* * *

When Bulma finally woke up from her nap, she saw Vegeta sitting in the balcony, surrounded by falling snow. He was in his button up blue shirt and white pants. No coats or jacket, she noted. He is such a stubborn ass. Bulma went over to the glass door separating her room and the balcony.

"Hey," she said, "Why didn't you come in?"

He jumped when he heard her voice and blushed when their gazes met. Bulma opened the door and he stepped in quietly.

It was like a deja vu. She still remembered the time they bed together, he was also standing in the balcony of Capsule corps, looking at the stars .

"Well?" she asked, arms holding the glass door open.

"Sheesh," he grunted in response. He stomped inside purposefully as if walking slower would have frozen him on the spot.

He came in and raised a little of his ki to dry off.

Bulma closed the glass door and turned to him, "What's up?" He motioned her to take a seat while he smoothly slid the hotel chair and perched his arms on top of the back rest. Bulma set herself opposite him on the edge of her bed.

"So?" she started.

He looked at her face, blushed and averted his gaze. Somehow he lifted his head up, blinked and set his jaw. Bulma recognized this as his game face.

He threw her a medium sized capsule.

"Open it."

Bulma clicked and what popped out was seven bouquet of roses, boxes of what looked like chocolate covered strawberries, a six pack wrapped in dainty ribbons and a tiny card.

Her first thought was, oh thank goodness. She had expected worse. Her second was,"Vegeta -what--how am I supposed to eat this much chocolate covered strawberries?!"

Her screech seemed to ease him a little, "That didn't seem to stop you twelve years ago." He smirked, cheekily.

"Twel--!?"she stopped, flabbergasted. That was the day they started really talking, when Yamcha broke up with her."You remembered?!"

He blushed profusely but soldiered on, "Open the card."

The card was plain white with no embellishments or decor. There was a small, neat inscription on the inside saying, "Be mine." Plain and simple.

It was Bulma's turn to blush.

"Probably should have asked you before," he muttered, not quite finishing his sentence. He pointed to Bulma's charging oversized tablet. The lock screen was that of him and Trunks in the amusement park eating ice cream.He slowly focused his gaze on her. "I think that's how much I owed you."

"Owed me?"

"The years I should have been honest to you about,-" he didn't finish, he averted his gaze again, his face red.

"About?"

"You really have this need to torture me, do you?" he groaned, burying his head in his arms. He mumbled something that sounded like...

"-m feelings"

His feelings?

His...

oh.

Oh.

OH!!!

It shocked her. She had to hold the bed where she was sitting so she didn't fall. He felt the same. He really felt the same as she does. She wanted to hoot and holler but it's late and she was not in sound proof Capsule Corps. The second thing she wanted to do was grab an anxiety cigarette, but Vegeta is currently here and her case is in the suitcase behind where he was sitting. Somehow, she couldn't contain her euphoria and she started giggling.Twelve long years of...not hoping, pining, watching him, pretending that it was fine...

It was all toomuch.

The giggles eventually got mixed with sobs and tears.

A part of her that was observing herself just thought, well that's new. She tried to wipe away her tears, but somehow it just kept coming.

"Bulma?!" was Vegeta's panicked cry. He jumped out of the chair and stood in front of her, unsure.

"Twelve fucking years Vegeta!"

He winced.

She flung to his chest and held him tightly."All this fucking time!" she repeated amidst tears and giggles.

Vegeta stood still, not knowing what to do. He asked, confused, "...do you still want to...?"

"Yes!" she lifted her head up,"Goddamit, YES!"

He finally made his move, he cupped her cheeks carefully and planted a chaste kiss. Almost shy, like his very first kiss. She kissed him back and he responded in kind. It was almost like they turned back the time, Bulma thought.

When they broke off for air he just held her really tightly. His other arm stroked her back slowly, comforting her, as if saying sorry. They stood still for a moment, just savouring each other's company.

Bulma broke it first. "... got your dress shirt wet,"

He answered, muffled by her shoulder, "s 'okay,"

They hugged each other tighter.

"Can't believe we did this backwards," she said, face down on the crook of hid neck.

He grunted.

Bulma quietly counted. Seven bouquet of roses, seven boxes of...wait a second.

"Are you saying that... you have had feelings for me from the start?"

"Ngk." was his response.

"And it took you, twelve years to confess!?" she declared, pulling her face away, to observe him closely.

His face was beet red. He looked so pained. She probably shouldn't have teased him but honestly, she was due for some revenge. Especially to the man that made her wait so long.

"What do you wanna do now?" she asked, changing the subject.

"What do you mean what do I want to do now, I came here to celebrate this blasted Earth Holiday didn't I?"

Ah, irritated Vegeta. This was familiar territory.

"Woo me, you asshole," Bulma countered, grinning from ear to ear.

"Whu-- but I!" he stopped, watching her eyes glint and dance. Vegeta huffed and rolled his eyes, his mouth slightly curving

He lunged at her and Bulma finally released a breath she didn't even know she was holding and gave him a playful chase.

**Author's Note:**

> [Alcubierre Drive theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive)  
>    
> My headcanon is, Bulma is as bad at feelings as Vegeta but it works out bc the stuff she is bad at, he is more adequate at it and vica versa.
> 
> I also headcanon that Vegeta knows some employees at Capsule Corps and has been doing small odd jobs --and that Bulma has a life outside the Z Warriors
> 
> I tried to insert some bits but I couldn't, mainly the fact that Dr. and Mrs. Briefs, Gohan and Chi Chi was helping Vegeta out to do this.


End file.
